Untitled
by Sinful Joker
Summary: This story is kind of AU. It's about Ani and his "relationship" with the stranger Team Toguro's sponsor stuck with them. Shonen Ai one-sided OCxAni
1. Chapter 1

He never let his younger brother in on his opinions anymore, especially the ones that revolved around Genkai. It felt as the two drifted further apart every day that they were together. He began to wonder if anyone would miss him if he were to leave. Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance.

A man approached them and offered to sponsor them in the Dark Tournament. Each of them knew about it, and Otouto decided that he wanted to try to bring honor to the Toguro name. Some how, Otouto had made Ani forget about even quitting the team. Of course, that was a decision that he would regret.

One day, Ani was by himself practicing. He never liked going to his brother's dojo, since they learned more based off physical strength in addition to technique. As much as he loved spending time with his brother, his style was one more for finesse, for he had an ability that most psychics would be afraid of—he had the power to morph his flesh.

Even before he could warp his flesh, he depended on speed and accuracy to fight. He was never as strong as Otouto, and he wasn't afraid to admit that. Even Genkai had more strength than he did.

He felt that it was important to improve on what he could do. He could make his fingers stretch to about four feet in length and make them sharp, but what he was having the most trouble with was forming his entire hand into a weapon. He focused hard and slowly the flesh (skin, bones, and muscle alike) of his fingers began to melt together. He was so close to his goal; he could feel the edges of his hand harden and the tip of his fingers sharpen! Suddenly, his concentration was shattered by someone grasping his shoulder. He turned and tried to slap the stranger with his incomplete flesh blade, but he anticipated the move and blocked and apprehended his wrist.

"That was most impressive," uttered the stranger. He was tall with dark hair and dark skin. His blue eyes seemed to shine with the same mischievous grin that he wore on his face. "But you need to be a bit faster with it."

"Let go of me...!" Ani growled in a low tone.

"Not until you calm down a bit, babe."

Babe?! What kind of death wish did this guy have?! The psychic didn't hesitate to sharpen his fingers and thrust at this demented, misguided young man. Unfortunately, this too was anticipated and interrupted. The stranger whirled Ani around, pulled his twisted arms across his waist, and pinned the smaller fighter to his body.

"There. Are you satisfied?"

"Let me go!" cried the psychic as he wriggled in the man's grasp. He pulled his arms harder each time, trying to pry them loose. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Your new teammate, of course. They call me Akuma. You must be Toguro Ani." Akuma sniffed Ani's hair and added, "Mr. Mayakashi said that you were beautiful. I didn't realize how understated his description was."

Ani fought his grasp harder at the statement and action. He brought his leg up and kicked the stranger. Akuma was surprised by that and eased his grasp on the frail looking psychic. That gave him enough slack to escape. He then turned back to Akuma and threw a punch, sharpening just his knuckles along the way. Without looking at the results of his new trick, he turned and ran as fast as he could back towards the dojo.

---

When Ani finally reached the dojo, he didn't stop to think about the class that was going on as he flung the doors open. Otouto saw this and told his students to practice the techniques they just learned. He approached his brother, who fell on his way in. The small fighter was panting and looked frightened.

"What happened?" Otouto asked as he helped his brother stand. "You're home early. Is everything okay?"

Ani shook his head. He murmured through his pants, "A man. . . in the woods groped me. . . He said that he knew Mr. Mayakashi. . . !"

"Akuma," muttered Otouto. "I told him to leave you alone, but he didn't listen." He looked to Ani and shook his head. "I'll take care of it." He looked to the class. "All right, everyone, partner up for sparring practice!"

Every student but one got a partner quickly. Otouto decided that he'd practice with Ani until Genkai arrived. It was also a way for Ani to finish up his exercises for the day. When Otouto left to talk to Akuma, the student stared at the psychic that stood before him. He was very nervous for one reason—Ani's power was creepy!

"Please, don't hurt me, Toguro-sama!" he screeched.

"What makes you think you're going to get hurt?" He smirked and formed his hand into a blunt paddle. He then bopped the fighter in the head and laughed. The young man screamed and jumped away from Ani, which only made him laugh harder.

"Don't do that!"

"Oh, fine," uttered the psychic. He put his hand back to normal and held it up for the student to see. "See, Doku, it's just a hand again."

Doku looked at it and cautiously took a step forward. The evil smirk crossed Ani's lips again as he stretched his index finger to effectively poke the student. This time he made a strange squeaky noise and fainted. A blush crossed his face as he whispered, "Oops... That wasn't supposed to happen..."

Just after Doku passed out, the heavy doors swung open again. This time, a small figure came through. Ani looked over and saw the pink hair and knew who it was. He quietly said, "Good afternoon, Genkai."

All of the students stopped what they were doing and bowed to Genkai. She bowed to the crowd before going to the front of the room with Ani and Doku. She looked at the situation and stated, "Let me guess, you scared him, again."

"Oh, it was all in good fun. He'll forgive me once he wakes again."

"I don't think your brother's going to be thrilled." She looked around and noticed the students still weren't practicing. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

"Looking for Akuma..."

Genkai nodded to acknowledge the statement. She then turned to the students and announced, "You are all dismissed! Report back here tonight at about nine."

As the others filed out, two came forward to take Doku. Once they were gone, it fell completely silent. That was one thing about Genkai and Ani... they really didn't know each other well enough to carry out a conversation without Otouto's help.

Fortunately, the odd silence was short lived. About ten minutes later, Otouto came in dragging Akuma by the scruff of the neck. The new fighter whimpered, "Come on! It's not like I kissed him or anything. I just blocked a couple of blows! I didn't want him to get loose and hit me, so I pinned him. Big deal!"

"You left out the detail where you were hitting on me!" hissed Ani.

Otouto looked annoyed at this fact. His eye twitched as he threw Akuma down to the floor. He growled, "Apologize, now, Akuma!"

"Fine!" He shifted his position to a bow. "I'm sorry Ani that I find you attractive."

Otouto growled in the back of his throat, but that was enough to satisfy him... this time.

"Be more subtile next time," whispered Genkai to the newcomer. Akuma stood up and bowed at the hips. He looked to Ani and smirked. This team was going to be a good one indeed.

---

That night, Otouto and Genkai had went off to their bedroom, leaving Ani and Akuma alone. It was completely silent for almost an hour. Ani didn't bother to break the silence and stood up and tried to cross the room. As he passed Akuma, the stranger caught his hand.

"Matte," he said quietly. "Are you just going to leave without saying 'Good night?' That's awfully rude, don't you think?"

"Gomen nasai," uttered the psychic quietly. He turned to the fighter, who still had his hand, and bowed. "Oyasumi."

"Oyasumi, Toguro-sama." With a yank of the fragile psychic's wrist, he was down almost in his lap. Akuma took advantage of the shock and gave him a quick peck at the corner of his mouth. When Ani got away, he swiped at the near stranger and growled. Fortunately for Akuma, he missed.

"Hentai!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down for his brother's sake. He then stormed off to his room. Akuma sat in his seat, smiling as he watched the small psychic. Something about that man was alluring. He had to make Ani his, somehow...


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: The story as a whole is about Akuma and Ani. This particular chapter is going to speak of the drifting that's occurring within Team Toguroand the one brief instant where they were actually a team.

---

The team had gotten to know Akuma better over the course of two months, but at the same time, Ani felt as if he was drifting further away from his brother. In his mind, it was all Genkai's fault. Alas, he had to accept that his brother would leave him someday. Perhaps, a life a solitude would be good for him—there was no way in hell he would spend more time than necessary with Akuma or Mr. Mayakashi.

It was one day before the team would have to embark to a small island known as Hanging Neck Island for the tournament to begin. This crew involved mostly humans, and that was rare. The big question was could they succeed?

---

Mr. Mayakashi called them into the city to talk before going off for the next few days. The living room in the apartment was rather small but well furnished. There was a couch and a love seat on either side of a coffee table, and on the other two sides were plush chairs. Akuma, Otouto, and Genkai sat at the couch, Mr. Mayakashi sat in one of the chairs, and Ani stood in the background leaning against the wall.

"I've looked over the other teams that are involved. There's a team that consists of some very powerful demons. That's the one I'm most concerned about."

"You shouldn't doubt our skills," stated Genkai. "We don't fear death, and we certainly don't fear a few brutes. Have faith in us, Mr. Mayakashi."

"Then, I suppose you all know the risks involved."

"Of course," Ani interjected as he bowed his head and closed his eyes. "Why else do you believe we would have agreed?"

"Excellent point, Aniki." The old man's gray-brown gaze set on the psychic. "Why don't you come join us?"

"I'm rather fine where I am, thanks." He sounded a little annoyed, and he didn't bother to look at them as he spoke. Otouto looked back at his older brother and sighed.

"Ani, please come here. I would feel a lot better if you sat next to me."

"Humph! Really, now, brother, your deception is trifling. I know full well that you don't need me any more, now that you've got _her_." He opened his eyes slowly as he felt another set of eyes fall upon him. Akuma looked as if he was about to speak, but Ani cut him off. "As for you, Akuma, I'm still annoyed with your antics from the last time I spoke with you! The constant coquetry is quite revolting."

Otouto shot Akuma a death glare at the statement. He stood up and curled his fist. As he approached the demon, he growled, "What did I tell you about flirting with Ani?!"

"I can't help that he's attractive. Besides, you should embrace the fact that he has a chance with someone outside of an incestuous relationship."

"Why you--! Come here, you bastard!" Otouto stomped over to Akuma, who effectively flipped over the couch for protection.

"So what if I'm flirting with him? Why should it matter to you? You have Genkai after all. Besides, Mr. Mayakashi seems to have a thing for him, too." He ducked to dodge a blow from the enraged martial artist. "You're not going to go punch out Mr. Mayakashi over that, are you?!"

"Cut it out!" yelled Genkai. The two fighting men silenced and stopped throwing blows at each other. "Both of you, shut up, sit down, and let Mr. Mayakashi not have a war zone in his living room!" Both men sat down on the couch on opposite sides of Genkai. Then, she looked cold and hard at Ani. "And you! You get over here and at least pretend your still part of the team!"

Ani was shaking with annoyance at this point. He wasn't part of the team anymore; he was just excess baggage that no one really cared about. He hissed, "I'm fine right here!"

"You call yourselves a team?" asked Mr. Mayakashi, rising. "You're completely dysfunctional! You aren't the people I met with three months ago!"

"Welcome to reality," murmured Ani.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Genkai asked.

"Things have been falling apart since you came along and seduced Otouto. The only reason I'm still around is because the men at the dojo are as much a part of my life as they are his! I care about brother's students more than I care about the world."

"As much as I enjoy doubling as your group therapist, I think it would be best if you guys didn't go risk your lives in an event that requires you trusting your lives in each others hands. You guys wouldn't be able to survive at this rate." He eyed the group carefully. "I wonder... Is your home situation really what's bothering you? Or perhaps, it's the tension." He walked around the couch, leaned on the back of it, and added, "I want to accompany you guys home and watch you there. Then, I'll decide whether or not I actually want to send you anymore."

---

When the group arrived back at the dojo, the first thing everyone noticed was that it was eerily quiet. Otouto ran ahead inside to see what was going on, while everyone else stayed back on guard. Not even a full minute later, a painful cry rang out from the building. Ani was the first one to go running to check on his brother.

The sight inside was devastating. Blood painted the walls and full corpses and pieces of bodies decorated the room. Otouto was on his knees, shaking with tears streaming down his face. Ani was speechless. He moved forward to further examine the damage. Soon, he came upon Doku's head. Reality hadn't struck him until he dropped down and gently placed a shaking hand on the face's cheek. Tears hit him hard and his breathing became ragged. By the touch, he realized that this was not a dream. A sudden pain struck his chest and his gut; it was a deep, sorrowful and empty sensation—if Ani felt like this, he could only imagine what his brother felt.

It felt like an eternity had passed, even if it was but a few seconds, until Genkai, Akuma, and Mr. Mayakashi came on to the scene. Akuma ran to Ani's aid and sat down next to him. He embraced him tightly and whispered, "It's okay to let it out..."

"What happened here?" asked Mr. Mayakashi as he looked around. "Who did this?"

"I know exactly who is behind this...!" Otouto replied. "I want to make sure he burns for this! Don't take that chance away from me, Mayakashi!" Everyone could hear his voice shake.

Mr. Mayakashi started into a conversation with Genkai and Otouto. Ani wasn't listening. He was taking in the scene around him. Out of the corner of his eye, the psychic could see that his brother wasn't listening either.

"Ani, are you okay?" asked Akuma.

"Just let me be alone... Brother needs you more that I. Please, comfort him..." Never once did they make eye contact in that brief conversation. Akuma looked at Ani for a moment then hesitantly did as he was asked.

Ani didn't know how much time passed or what all they had been talking about before hand. He just heard everyone's voice without really taking in what they were saying. Genkai's voice got notably louder, but Ani's gaze remained fixed on Doku's bright, emerald eyes. They were now dull and lifeless... Doku had been the one person who Ani could have considered a friend. That's why his death devastated him more than anything else around him did. True, the whole event was saddening, but seeing Doku's severed head was just crushing.

"I don't think Ani should go," Akuma's voice stated. That drew Ani out of his trance. He looked to the group and then back to Doku. With a soft touch, he closed the head's eyes. Silently, he rose to his feet and wiped away his tears.

"Damn it all..." he said in a dry, shaking voice. "Can't you let me decided what's best for me? I'm not a child or some fragile little doll."

"What are you saying?" asked Mr. Mayakashi.

"I'm coming with you. I'm not going to let little brother deal with those monsters himself! They took something just as important from me!"

"So, you're not going to leave us?" the old man asked.

"Not like this. Not under these conditions."

"If you are all really sure this is what you want... I'll have a boat ready to take you first thing tomorrow morning. I don't want to leave you all like this."

"Just go," Otouto bluntly stated. "We should be the ones to bury the dead..."

"Very well. I will see you all in the morning."

---

That night it was completely silent among the team. Even though for an instant they appeared to be almost a family, they all seemed to become more isolated, especially Otouto (in Ani's eyes). He had begun to even push Genkai away. They weren't a team anymore... They were just a group of strangers with a common goal.


	3. Chapter 3

The ship departed early that morning. Ani stayed in the cabin below deck so he wouldn't have to put up with the sun light. There wasn't much sun in the forest where he enjoyed practicing, so the ocean was not a welcome change. Genkai and Otouto had insisted that he stayed with them, but he politely refused and slipped away without a word.

He leaned back in a hammock in the back of the room and spaced off while looking at the ceiling. His left hand was tucked under his head, and he brought his right hand into his line of sight. The ability he had was seemingly useless, for he could only craft his entire hand into blunt objects—that meant he had nothing extremely useful up his sleeve. He never really could defend himself without his brother's help.

Frustrated at himself, he focused hard on his hand. With much quicker results than his last attempts, Ani's flesh began to meld together and sharpen. In half a minute, he thrust his flesh blade into the ceiling with a bit of a muffled roar.

Suddenly, a steady, soft clapping pulled him out of his thoughts. He didn't even have to look to know it was Akuma. His voice sounded, "Nicely done. That's much more effective than when we first met."

"Hmm..." He pulled his blade out and formed it back to his hand. Then, he rested his arm over his stomach and closed his eyes lightly.

"Do you mind if I stay down here? I feel a little sick."

"I don't care."

Akuma sat down in a chair near the hammock. He looked over Ani in a casual way and asked, "Ani, do you hate me?"

"No. I just find you annoying."

"So, you don't mind that I'm a demon?"

"Not particularly."

He seemed to be relieved by that statement. At least they were on speaking terms and no punches, slaps, claw swipes, or kicks had been thrown yet; Ani hadn't snapped at him, either.

Silence fell upon the cabin. The demon became nervous at this and put out another statement. He uttered, "You're acting more detatched than usual." The psychic didn't move or make a sound. "You're acting like your brother."

A loud "thud" rang about the room. Akuma looked at the psychic, who had punched the ceiling and gotten his sharpened knuckles caught in it. "Don't compare me to him!" he hissed. "If you're going to stay down here, be quiet and let me sleep!"

So, Akuma listened to him for a few minutes. Ani was just about to fall asleep, but the demon said, "Ani, do you think we stand a chance?"

"We can't just give up, now can we?" returned the psychic, with annoyance in his voice. He sat up and hopped down from the hammock, landing in a half-crouched position.

"I don't mean that. I mean... could you ever be interested in me?" Ani stood there looking like shocked and said nothing in return. "Well, I care about you a lot, and I'm sure I could take excellent care of you."

Ani shook his head as he started to really absorb what Akuma was telling him. He knew the demon had interest in him, but he thought it was a boyish crush or something of the like. Why of all the demons in Makai did Mr. Mayakashi put them with this coy, arrogant creature? And why of all the humans he knew did he have to like Ani Toguro?

Ani knew himself that he was less than attractive. He knew that he was weak and perhaps the most useless member of Team Toguro.

"Akuma, please leave. I wish to persue this matter no longer," he whispered in a tone that barely hinted his true annoyance.

The demon approached him, and he stepped away. It went on like this until Ani was pinned against the wall. Akuma's blue eyes kept a gaze on the yellow-green irises as he whispered, "This is all I ask of you... give me a chance. Is it so hard to believe that someone may actually love you?"

"Yes!" He formed his fingers into claws and set a firm glare at the demon. "Just let me have some time alone. I would like to go back to sleep, if you don't mind."

Akuma backed away, seeing the threatening motion Ani was planning. The psychic got back into the hammock and curled up with a blanket. He noticed Akuma followed suit and lay on the cot to the side of the cabin.

Before either of them could get to sleep, Otouto came down. He looked at both of them and then shook his head. He closed his eyes and turned away.

"Mr. Mayakashi was worried about you two. You were being very loud."

"Forgive me, brother. Akuma and I were having a discussion," explained Ani only half interested. "You can go back to your little witch now and us in peace."

Otouto growled a little out of annoyance. He turned back, went into the room, and lifted Ani by the shoulders. Looking his smaller brother in the eyes, he said firmly, "Watch what you call her!" He then shoved Ani into the wall and turned to walk away. No one tried to stop him. Ani slid to the floor, panting slightly; it was hard to believe that Otouto just did that. He never paid attention to the witch comments before—infact, he usually let them slide without more than a roll of the eyes.

"Ani, are you hurt?" asked Akuma as he jumped to his feet.

"I'm fine," Ani replied, bluntly. "Just leave me alone!"

There was something definitely wrong with his brother; hell, there was something wrong with the entire group—that much was apparent because of the incident. _Is that all that's bothering Otouto? _Ani asked mentally. Perhaps, there was more to it, but his younger brother was certainly in no mood to talk about it.

After the painfully long and silent boat trip, Mr. Mayakashi checked the team into the hotel. He would share a room with Akuma and Ani while Otouto and Genkai shared a room alone. It was his idea of encouraging the "happy couple" to stay that way. Too bad his attempts were all in vain.


	4. Chapter 4

Ani had spent most of his time sleeping on the boat, and he felt mentally exhausted. So, he decided to go out and explore the island before opening ceremonies began. It was something to wake him up and get his mind off of his brother's coarse behavior. His back hurt and his shoulders were bruised from Otouto's actions—what could he do about it?

When he was finally a good distance away from the hotel, he found a clearing and decided to practice his fighting style. Who in their right mind would come after him out here?

After two hours into his practice, he started working on his flesh craft again. First, he stabbed the tree with all five of his finger pikes, then he swatted it a few times with his paddle hand, and then, he made the claws extend from his knuckles. Finally, he turned his hands into blades in mere seconds and swung twice at the tree before him. If only he could work with some other parts of his body... Maybe, then he could have been useful.

"Not bad," a voice from behind said. Ani turned around to see Mr. Mayakashi watching him. He formed his hands back to normal and looked to the old man. He closed his eyes and sighed softly. "What's wrong, Aniki?"

The fighter shook his head as he opened his eyes again; his gaze slowly sank to the ground. He then barely uttered, "Everyone tells me that, yet I still have yet to prove my worth to this team."

"Says who? If this is about Otouto—!"

"Forget about him!" hissed Ani, which startled Mr. Mayakashi.

"Akuma told Genkai and me that he hurt you. Is this true?"

Ani curled his hand into a fist and closed his eyes tightly as he thought back to what happened on the boat. He then responded, "No. He didn't do anything wrong. Just forget about it."

"Opening ceremonies are beginning in two hours. They're announcing the first fights then. Don't be late, okay?"

"Okay."

"By the way, Akuma's looking for you. Should I tell him where you are?"

"No, I'll just come back to the hotel. It would probably be safer that way." Ani looked to Mr. Mayakashi. "You wouldn't mind escorting me back, would you?"

"Of course not. Just follow me."

The two walked out of the forest together. It was a quiet walk, but it was enjoyable. At least Ani wasn't too angry about what happened on the boat. When they got out of the woods, they saw two strange looking people talking to each other. A tall demon with horns and wavy green hair said, "I heard one of the teams is made of mostly humans."

"Same here," his partner said. "I hope they know what they're doing."

"Who cares! It might be easy pray for you."

"I care! I want a good challenge! If the humans were good enough to get here in the first place, I say they must be a worthy challenge."

"Yeah, but I heard one of them could only make his flesh into random objects."

It was then Ani stopped. He didn't make eye contact as he stated, "You say that as if it's an absolutely useless ability..."

Both of them looked at him and Mr. Mayakashi. Ani had begun to craft his fingers into pikes. The old man grabbed his wrist and sternly commanded, "Don't do it, Aniki. You're here to fight in the ring, not cause trouble outside."

"Aniki?" the green haired demon asked. "As in Aniki Toguro? You're that psychic, aren't you?"

"What of it?" asked Mr. Mayakashi. "He wants to be left alone."

"Mr. Mayakashi, if you haven't noticed, I can fight my own battles! I know when to draw the line!" hissed the psychic, annoyed. The two demons were caught off guard by his outburst. His cat-like eyes turned to the green haired demon. "Now, what problem do you have with my team and especially me?"

"You actually made it to the first round of the tournament?" asked the green haired demon. Mr. Mayakashi took a step back as the demon approached. The demon took Ani's wrist, lifted his arm, and examined him. "You're so small!"

"Is this man part of a team?" asked Ani to the black haired demon. He shook his head to say "No." Ani smirked and uttered, "Good." He turned his hand into a sword and stabbed the demon straight through the stomach. The demon slouched so Ani could now speak directly into his ear. He half whispered, half hissed, "Never underestimate me again! If you survive, that is..." He pulled his hand out of the stranger and licked the blood from his skin.

"Aniki! What in God's name are you doing?!"

"Teaching that scoundrel a lesson!"

"A lesson I will also tell my team," the black haired demon noted aloud. Mr. Mayakashi dragged him back to the room after that. It wouldn't be good if Ani caused anymore trouble before the tournament actually started.

When they got back to the room, Mr. Mayakashi firmly sat Ani down on the bed. Akuma jumped from his chair when he saw that the human was upset. The demon boy looked to Ani and lipped, "What happened?"

Ani just shook his head. Mr. Mayakashi stormed out of the room, slamming the door on his way out. Akuma approached Ani and looked at his hand, which was still had a bit of blood on it. "Did you get hurt?"

"No. Don't worry about it, Akuma." He stood up and went into the bathroom. He turned on the warm water. "So, you talked to the old man while I was out?"

"Yeah! I was worried about what happened on the way here."

"Brother's just being a bit irritable, I suppose. It's because of the attack on the dojo, so I really don't blame him for his actions."

"Ani... that's not exactly healthy. You shouldn't just brush off that kind of behavior like it's not a big deal," Akuma stated as Ani turned off the water. He came out and looked at the demon.

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Yes! Ani... He. Hurt. You. I don't know how to make that anymore clear. He was VIOLENT towards you without a justifiable reason."

"So, I was violent towards a demon that was underestimating my team. Really, it's no—ah!" He was startled when Akuma grabbed his bruised shoulders.

"YOU WHAT?!" shrieked Akuma. "Ani, why did you go and attack a stranger? What if he overpowered you?"

"Let go!" Ani used longhand strikes to the demon's wrists to brush away his hands. "He didn't overpower me, and I'm sure he'll recover. Now, drop the subject."

The demon shook his head and tried to bring his focus back to the real subject. The Brothers had been acting short-tempered all day. It had to stop.

"Ani, when we get out of this thing, I'm taking you to the best therapist I can afford and we're going to work through these issues together. You'll never have to fight again." He took the psychic's hand gently. "I'll take care of you, and we can settle down away from people."

Ani's cat-like eyes stared almost blankly at the demon. He hesitantly asked, "I-is that what you really want to do?"

"Yes." The psychic pulled his hand free and turned away. "Ani, why can't you accept it? I care about you."

"No one ever cares. Not even Brother."

"Why do you assume that just because your brother doesn't like you that the rest of the world can't? I'm not Otouto. Besides, you shouldn't be after your own brother. It's a little wrong."

Ani twitched inside. It was true that he loved Otouto, just not in the normal brotherly way. What Ani felt for Otouto was just barely past hero-worship; Otouto was always the one to protect him and take care of him since he could remember. He never actually stopped to think it was strange. Then again, the students at the dojo and Otouto were the extent of his human contact until Genkai, Mr. Mayakashi, and Akuma came into his life. He had all ready lost the students, and he sure as hell didn't want to loose Otouto, too.

_But perhaps it is best that I let him go..._ thought Ani. He stood up and went to the door. "Come with me, Akuma. We should probably meet up with the others before the ceremonies begin."

"Damn you, Ani. I wish you wouldn't change the subject on me all the time. I'm not going to forget about this. Not until you at least get over Otouto."

_He's stubborn,_ noted Ani mentally. _That should prove helpful when we begin fighting._

The opening ceremonies were rather dull. The speakers went over regulations and emergency procedures, and it was stressed that death was allowed in the fights. Weapons were perfectly legal, and the team captains decided the rules before every match. The committee had the final say in everything. The thing that caught Ani's attention most in all the boring talk about the way things were run was the fact that only two people on the medical staff could treat humans. That wasn't exactly a reassuring statement.

Once the match-ups were announced, everyone left back to they're rooms. Otouto and Genkai met up with the rest of the team in Mr. Mayakashi's room. Everyone was seated ready to listen to their sponsor.

"You'll be happy to know, that man you attacked will make a full recovery, thanks to his youki," explained Mr. Mayakashi. "That's what I wanted to talk to you guys about."

"What man?" asked Otouto.

"Aniki here got into a fight with a by-stander." Otouto shot his brother a warning glance. "So, I feel it important to remind you all NOT to cause trouble while we're here. The others may say some rude things, but you'll just have to endure. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone gave an answer that was equivalent to "Yes" and fell silent again. Ani kicked himself mentally for giving in to his anger. Oh well. At least the tournament was starting soon, so then he could take his anger out on an opponent who would at least be expecting to be hit.


End file.
